Nine
by Leighannamarie
Summary: The next thing she expected from him was a little speech on how she shouldn't be nervous. Personally she didn't know how he could say that. Part of the 'Acceptance' series. I'm terrible at writing summaries.
1. One

**I'm very pleased that everyone has been enjoyin****g this series. I've had an extremely busy week and thought I'd work on this today. I hope everyone enjoys the latest installment to the 'Acceptance' series. **

**Nine**

Teresa Lisbon was late. She was supposed to arrive at Dr. Denny's office twenty minutes ago. Patrick Jane continued to pace around the waiting room, eyes occasionally wandering around the room. A room full of heavily pregnant to women who hardly showed at all. They were going to lose their place soon if she didn't hurry up and get herself to this appointment.

It was her tenth week.

Dr. Denny appeared once more, "Mr. Jane, where is Agent Lisbon?" working.

He pleasantly smiled at the older woman, "She'll be here in a few moments," he paused, "Traffic," Dr. Denny was agitated. She knew Lisbon was most likely not coming to her appointment because like the last time, she was nervous.

"If she's not here in five minutes I'm going to have to take in another patient."

Patrick found himself once more smiling at the woman, "Go ahead and take another patient, we'll be okay," Dr. Denny hesitated then nodded.

Where was that woman?

In the parking lot. She sat in her department issued dark blue Chevy Suburban, hands gripping the steering wheel, eyes not leaving a certain brick on the building in front of her. She breathed in then out, she didn't feel as if she could do this. It was going to be hard.

Sighing to herself, she stepped out of her vehicle, staring at the building once more, she set off towards it. She headed towards the door, pulling it open, she found herself in the familiar lobby that she remembered being in a few weeks before. She paused before heading towards the elevators, her hand shook the whole time she reached to press the button.

She wasn't the only one in the elevator. An elderly man most likely going onto the floor above her held a cup of coffee in his hand. The same exact liquid that made her want to lose whatever she had previously eaten that day. She moved towards the farthest part of the elevator, hand clasped over her nose in the most discreet manor that she possibly could.

"Are you all right miss?" apparently he noticed.

She smiled at the man and nodded, "I'm fine," her face was certainly pale; the look of pure sickness was definitely playing out on her features.

She was grateful when the ride was over. She moved out a little faster than was probably necessary, but before she thought she could make it to the nearest bathroom, she found herself hunched over a wastebasket next to the elevator; losing the half a bagel she'd eaten an hour earlier.

Stepping back, she used a tissue that she kept in her jacket pocket to wipe away any possible traces of the vile thing that came out of her mouth. Tossing it into the wastebasket, she was on her way towards Dr. Denny's office. She fiddled with her fingers along the way nervously, thoughts not once straying from Patrick and their baby.

She carefully opened the door, the room was fairly crowded. She guessed today was 'see Dr. Denny day'. She stepped into the room and saw Patrick standing towards the farther side of the room, he turned and his gaze met hers, his face was full of worry. She didn't like the fact that he was nervous about her not being there.

She moved towards him, as soon as she got in front of him, the door opened and Nurse Parker called her into the nearest examination room. Her next guess was that the entire practice had been waiting for her. That was awkward.

Teresa laid back on the table in the middle of the room. Nurse Parker carefully drew the blood from her arm; Teresa couldn't help but wrinkle her nose in disgust as the blood came from her arm and into the syringe.

"Dr. Denny will be in a few moments," all Teresa could do was nod.

Her gaze shifted from the cotton ball she was pressing into her arm, then towards Jane, who was just walking into the room, shutting the door behind him, "Why were you late?"

She didn't know what to say; ordinarily he would have known the answer to that. By his body language she could tell right off that she wasn't the only nervous person in this room.

"You were nervous," he stated flatly. Of course he was right. He had gotten it before she would have admitted it to him. All she did was nod.

The next thing she expected from him was a little speech that she shouldn't be nervous. Personally she didn't know how he could say that, but then again, he too was obviously nervous about this.

"You are too."

He smiled at her, hands shifting towards his pockets, "Me? Nah," he continued to give her his 100-watt grin, "I'm never nervous about this."

She was about to open her mouth and say something else, but Dr. Denny opened the door and moved into the room. She didn't look entirely too happy, "Agent Lisbon," she addressed, "I do not appreciate you being late," truth to be told, it wasn't like her to be late to an appointment. This one was just so life changing that she couldn't compare it to the other major points that have come up in her life.

"I'm sorry," she paused, "It won't happen again."

Dr. Denny nodded, "All right, let's see how we're doing," she brought a stool up, slowly dragging the machine closer to them, "Pull up your shirt," Teresa did so, nervously, especially with Jane in the room.

"This might be a little cold," she squirted the jelly onto her abdomen, Teresa automatically flinched. She then noticed, like before, Jane was by her side, squeezing her shoulder.

Dr. Denny placed the wand onto Teresa's belly, moving it around in an attempt to get a clearer picture of the life growing inside of her. She stopped and smiled at the two, "There's your ten week old baby."

Teresa couldn't help but smile, she felt Jane squeeze her shoulder again. The next thing she knew, she had subconsciously reached up and grasped his hand in hers. Their baby was growing. Their baby was real.

**There will be more to this. I plan for this to be multi-chapter. **


	2. Two

**Nine**

"You need to tell them."

"No!"

Once again Patrick Jane and Teresa Lisbon found themselves arguing of whether or not to tell the team of her pregnancy. Teresa was sitting at her desk, hands clasped together, elbows resting on top of the desk. She didn't look happy.

Patrick leaned in closer to her, his voice dangerously low, "If you won't, I will," he watched as a flicker of emotions played across her face. He would tell them for sure; she didn't want them to find out from him.

They also might not believe him.

"I'll tell them," she paused, "Soon."

Patrick took a few steps back, "You said that _last_ week," he took a breath, "And the week before that," she subconsciously bit her lip and nodded. No matter how much she wished he were wrong, she needed to tell them. It was only a matter of time before the team was to notice.

She was a little over thirteen weeks now…

"I'll tell them tomorrow."

He nodded at her, "All right," he put his hands in his pockets. For a brief second, she could have sworn she saw a glimmer of mischief enter his blue eyes. Of course it was mischief, what else would it be, "But you know what, I'll tell them today."

"Jane!" she immediately got up from her chair, quickly walking after his figure. He was already in the bullpen calling Van Pelt from her reports, Rigsby from his lunch…which looked strangely good, and Cho from his crossword puzzle, "Jane, No!" her voice was dangerous.

He stood front and center in the bullpen, his hands were now clasped together, a famous 100-watt smile playing across his features, "I have a little announcement to make."

"_Jane_!" her voice came off snappish, in an annoyed tone, everyone turned to look at her before back at Patrick, he didn't seem to notice her at this moment. He was so tuned into letting the team know what was happening to her.

"Our beloved Teresa Lisbon," she couldn't take this, she moved from where she was standing, she reached out and grabbed his arm, "Is-," she then pulled him down to her and quickly clasped her hand over his mouth, preventing him from saying anything further.

The entire team glanced at the senior agent as she held onto her consultant. She didn't know what to say or do, she knew what _not_ to do. That was removed her hand from Patrick's mouth.

Van Pelt stood from her chair, watching her boss' nervous features play over her face, "Boss, are you all right?" Teresa nodded, hoping everyone would believe that. She was just angry. Overly angry with a certain person.

"You sure?" Rigsby was the next to ask.

She nodded again. Slowly she let go of Patrick, letting her hand fall from his mouth, he wasn't about to say anything, and he could tell by her body language that she was going to say it herself. She was nervous as hell about it.

Her hands were by her sides now, clenching into fists, then back out, she looked down then back up again, a lump now forming in the back of her throat, she opened her mouth, nothing was coming out.

But yet she still found the courage to say it.

"I'm pregnant."

Everyone was silent, watching her. Van Pelt looked down and gazed at her boss's stomach, she didn't expect this from Lisbon, as did Rigsby. Curiosity sprang into Cho's eyes before they dropped to her stomach.

"Congratulations," Cho was the only one to speak.

She felt the air vacate the room and the tension level rise. A throat cleared behind her, hesitantly, she turned around and saw Minnelli with his arms crossed over his chest. She knew she had to face it, being pregnant and working in the field wasn't allowed, much less having her job in all. She'd try her best to manage.

"Can I talk to you alone, Lisbon?" she nodded, still in shock from her recent revelation about the soon to be coming rapid change in her life.

She followed him towards his office; he held the door open for her as she slipped in. He walked over and stood behind his desk. She stood in front, hands clasped together in front of her. A sign of being nervous.

"How far along are you, Lisbon?"

"A little over thirteen weeks," her heart was beating rapidly in her chest.

Minnelli nodded before lifting his hand up and rubbing his brow, "You know you can't do field work," he pause, "You understand that, right?" she nodded

"Lisbon, I'm happy for you, I really am," his eyes searched hers, "But I'm curious with what you're going to do after the baby is born."

She shrugged her shoulders, "Try my best at handling both," she paused, "I would highly rather not do this, but I could resign to be with him while the father works."

Minnelli nodded again, "What does he do?" he cared for Lisbon, really, he wanted to make sure that she and the baby were well provided for.

She had no idea what to say at this point, "He's—," she bit her lip, thinking this over, "Consulting for a major department," Minnelli nodded, "He makes a fair amount of money, he's already financially well provided for."

"It's Jane, isn't it."

"Yes sir."

**I'm sorry I have to leave it at that, I've had a lot of trouble writing this part, my daughter has also not been feeling well and I was in a recent vehicle accident. I was able to update other stories because I had already done a quick outline of what I was plotting. **

**Feedback is indeed very welcome =)**


	3. Three

**Nine**

Patrick Jane did not know if he should or should not fear for his life at this very moment. Lisbon was still infuriated from the morning's incident. In his defense, the team would have found out eventually if she kept it hidden any longer. Of course, she was still pissed.

He was currently standing in front of her door, about to knock again, for the third time. Patrick did not know if the third time, usually being lucky for one person one way or another, would work for him or for Lisbon.

He desperately hoped for him.

Before his fist hit the wood in front of him, the door opened before him. Lisbon looked casual, more casual than she was at work. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail and she was wearing a loose T-shirt with pajama pants. He actually did not see her often in her out of work attire.

"What do you want, Jane?" she asked him harshly.

He smiled, rocked back and forth on his heels and somehow made his smile even brighter, "Can I come in?"

"No."

"Why?"

She gripped the door tighter, "Because you embarrassed me," she stopped, "I strictly asked you to _not_ tell anyone of my pregnancy," she was about to boil over with rage right in front of him faster than he'd ever seen her do so. A new record, "And what did you do?"

"Tell them?" he shrugged his shoulders and continued to smile.

She nodded, still infuriated, "Exactly."

"I'm sorry."

"No you're not."

"Would another origami frog make it all better?" he was simply trying his best to please the pregnant woman in front of him. Her hormones should not be like this yet.

Should they?

He saw her right eye twitch briefly, "No," she stated simply.

Patrick then leaned forward until his hand was resting on the door, only a few millimeters away from hers, "I'm sorry, Teresa," his eyes searched hers. He could tell she wanted to say something to that. Probably was in shock over the use of her first name.

That essentially was the plan.

She bit her lip subconsciously and nodded, "Would you like something to drink?"

His smile beamed once more, "I would love something to drink, how nice of you to offer, Lisbon," back to the last name basis.

Patrick brushed past her into her apartment; she shut the door, momentarily leaning on the door. Her eyes followed him into her kitchen, as he opened one cabinet and pulled out a glass, then as he moved towards her refrigerator. Teresa started moving towards him slowly, still watching his movements. She watched him remove a carton of orange juice, uncap it, and pour it into the glass.

He just made himself at home like he always does every house he invades.

"You hungry?" he asked her simply.

She was about to shake her head 'no' when she felt her stomach grumble, he obviously heard it. The slight chuckle from his direction gave it all away. She looked down at her belly. There was a slight bump, still could be easily covered by clothing or by saying she hadn't been exercising enough or just having a plain 'bloat-day'.

"I take that as a yes," she couldn't help but blush. Anyone would blush if they had someone like Patrick Jane pretty much offering to make them something to eat in their very own kitchen.

"I have to make sure you are fed, you know," he moved towards her, setting his orange juice glass on the counter and leaning towards her. He was closer to her than he'd ever been since their whole 'Mother's Day Incident'. But it was ruined when he bent down and lifted her shirt quickly up exposing her belly.

She squeaked.

He chuckled.

Patrick took his hand and placed it on her belly, rubbing it ever so softly. She wanted to lean back, stretch out on a couch, the sensation of his hand on her skin made her go weak in the knees.

She then felt him press his lips on her belly, then again right below her belly button. They lingered there for a few seconds. Teresa gasped, he didn't chuckle, but she did however, feel his smile appear across his features.

"I also have to make sure that my **daughter** is fed as well."

She looked down at him, "What makes you so sure that it's a 'she'?" she asked him.

Patrick moved up to his full height, letting her shirt fall back into place, he smiled, "I have a way of telling."

She shook her head, "No way, no way you can know that," he was smirking at her now, "You don't know that!"

"You've been thinking it's a girl too."

Yes, that was true.

"But there's still a chance it could be a boy…" she didn't want to boost his already giant ego. If it were to be a girl…which like he said, she was sure it was, his ego would probably double in size.

Not a good thing for the people that work around him.

"Meh, I'm never wrong about these things."

**Well, here I am at midnight putting up some finishing touches up on this chapter. I hope everyone liked it…I am OK after the accident, so is my daughter. The front of my car looks like a wadded up ball of paper. **

***Those of you who have read another one of my stories (i.e. CSI Miami) know that when I am tried, my writing can get a little…weird or off, sometimes it's changed languages, that is my biggest flaw if I am tired and multilingual (English is also NOT my first language)**

**Feedback is very much welcomed =)**

**Leigha**


	4. Four

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it means a lot to us writers. **

**I'm sorry for taking a bit to update, more domestic problems that are again needed to be taken care of.**

**Nine**

Teresa Lisbon sat in the waiting room once more, alone this time. Jane was now the one who hadn't shown up on time, or so far at all for the matter. Once more, Dr. Denny decided on being merciful and took another patient in while she waited for her child's father.

Subconsciously she looked around the room, a couple of younger children sat in the room with their mothers, nervous and delighted fathers by them. Teresa felt a stab in her heart, suddenly wishing that Jane…Patrick was there with her, holding onto her hand or just being in her presence.

But a case came up about Red John.

She believes it's a hoax, that there was another copycat killer interested in the serial killer's sadistic ways. The thought of someone inhumane enough to just go out and copy such a crime made her stomach churn. She shook her head and pulled herself up from the chair at which she sat in, she then moved over towards the window to where the receptionist sat.

"He's not coming," the receptionist…Bevy was what her nameplate said, smiled warmly and nodded, "I'm ready when Dr. Denny's ready."

Bevy nodded once more, "Just sit tight for a little longer, she'll be right out to help you," Teresa nodded in return and bit her lip, unsure about going on about this alone without the father of her child.

…

Patrick Jane looked at what was in front of him.

A crime scene.

A scene that the sadistic serial killer, Red John, had recently been standing in, cackling in a manor that could scare anyone who claimed to be fearless.

Patrick looked down, his heart now tugged for the young woman who was recently murdered. She didn't have a chance once the stun gun hit her in the side. She didn't know who he was, until he told her. She had most likely heard about him once or twice on the ten o'clock news and maybe on a front page of a newspaper, but no where else.

Mary Costwald, nineteen years of age, on summer break from college with her boyfriend.

He shook his head and stepped back, a crinkling sound made itself known to his ears. He could have sworn that the sound of this particular paper resonated off the walls. A lump formed in his throat. This was most likely a note from the man he despised.

Patrick stepped back once again, bent over and picked up the paper with a fresh footprint on it. He flipped it over; in standard Times New Roman print on regular printer paper, a note that could chill anyone to the bone.

_Dear Mister Jane,_

_How is Agent Lisbon?_

He gasped and nearly fell back, Teresa was his target? Patrick wanted to yell out, to scream. He felt that he put her in danger just by being around her; he put their child in danger.

He had to get her _out_ of Sacramento.

…

Teresa lay back on the examination table, she placed her hands on her belly, entwining her fingers together, attempting to drift off until her doctor was to come in.

She imagined a child with bouncing dark brown curls and a mischievous grin dubbed as the 'Patrick Jane 100-Watt Grin'. The little girl wore a beautiful sundress that blew in the salty breeze that came from the Pacific.

She squealed as the sand squished between her toes.

Then in the image was gone.

Dr. Denny walked into the room holding her file, "How are you doing today, Teresa and Pa-," she paused and looked around the room. Not seeing Patrick around was an odd occurrence to her as well.

"He's not here."

Dr. Denny pulled up a stool and sat on it carefully, "Is everything all right between you two?" Teresa nodded.

"He's working, couldn't get away," the doctor nodded.

"Well, let's get this show on the road."

…

Patrick walked into Teresa's apartment, he wanted to find her, and he was sure she'd be home. He only expected her to go out to the supermarket, pick up another tub of ice cream, then come back and take another afternoon nap. Today was her day off, that's how she spent it ever since she figured out she was pregnant.

"Teresa?" he called out to her, he didn't get a response. His heart thudded in his chest, his mind clouded to any possible explanation to _why_ she wouldn't be home, "Teresa!" he found himself once more shouting. Patrick found himself on the verge of panicking, losing her would make him lose every bit of sanity he had.

"Teresa," his voice was softer, more desperate than ever.

"Yes?" he heard the front door shut with a soft click, then the soft pad of her feet. She appeared next to him, "What, Jane?" she placed her hands on her hips impatiently.

"Where were you?"

She rolled her eyes, she wasn't happy, obviously infuriated, "How could you forget? I was at an appointment with Dr. Denny!" how the hell could he forget that?

The colour drained from his face, the sense of panic he had ever since he found that note had his mind wired all wrong. It put off his thoughts, made his 'abilities to notice things or pay attention' not work to their full potential.

"Where were you _Patrick_?"

"Red John," her gaze softened, immediately realizing why, but she couldn't help but feel infuriated. She understood that Red John took something he held dear away from him so suddenly and he found it hard to move on into the future, but he _shouldn't_ let this man run his life. He should be running it himself.

"Let it go."

"I can't," his eyes searched hers through the dim lighting of the room, "He _wants you._"


	5. Five

**Once again, I'm having personal problems that have recently caused me to leave the country I live in.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed (:**

**Nine**

"What did you just say?" Teresa couldn't believe it. Red John wanted her? Was it because she was the closest one to Jane…not to mention the one pregnant with his child?

Patrick took a step closer to her, "Lisbon, Red John wants you," he moved closer to her once more, taking her hands in his, she then felt his fingers press in her wrists, taking her heart rate knowing immediately that her heart was pounding in her chest, "I can't let him near you," she saw tears prick into his eyes and understood. He didn't want that monster to take away everything once more. Patrick loved this child more than anything at the moment and would go hell and back for it. He would not let Red John take it away from him once more.

Teresa bit her lip and looked at his blue gaze that glittered through the diamond-like tear drops that floated down his cheeks, "What are we going to do?" she honestly didn't know. Red John would find her anywhere she would go, he was good at that. Once he had a goal, there was _no _turning back, not with him.

But they had to try.

"I want you to go to your brother's," he stated calmly, eyes once more searching hers, "You'll be safer at Matthew's," he stopped momentarily, "I already called him, he knows _everything_."

Patrick let go of her hands quickly and turned around the room. He quickly hurried over towards a nearby closet, pulling it open and pulling out a medium sized suitcase before dragging it towards the bedroom, "Jane!" she found herself calling after him. He was going into a slight panic mode.

Not like the Jane she knew.

"Jane!" she placed a hand on her abdomen for a quick second before following him into the room, "What are you doing?" she found him going through her closet, pulling out random articles of clothing and throwing them towards the open suitcase that lay on the bed.

He stopped for a brief second and looked up at her, "I'm getting you out of here," he then continued to do what he was doing. His hands started shaking as he moved through the hangers in the closet. Soon a bunch of the articles found themselves on the floor, this upset Patrick.

Silently she moved towards him, gently kneeling down beside him, she took his hands in hers. He wouldn't look at her, he was too afraid of what she might see in his eyes besides the murderous determination to get rid of Red John. She placed her hand on his cheek and moved his head so she could see him more clearly, "Jane," he didn't want to look at her. He just couldn't.

"Jane, look at me," her tone was firmer.

He still wouldn't, "Please Patrick," her voice was much lower, this caused him to turn and look at her. Her eyes were pleading with him, silently asking him to stop, to think, "I'll go see Matt and stay with him for a while," she didn't want to leave Sacramento. Anyone would suggest she'd be better off staying in Sacramento that going back home to Chicago.

He nodded and moved his eyes down at her belly. He couldn't help but smile and at the same time feel dread for the new life that was to be born in just a matter of months. Patrick moved towards her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer to him.

"Relax," he whispered into her ear.

She was stiff, she hadn't expected him to pull her in close like that, "You have a headache," he continued. He was also, very much right about that.

She sniffled slightly and groaned, she felt congested; she had been for the past couple of days. She had asked Dr. Denny about it, it was normal.

Teresa felt Patrick laugh slightly, he was remembering his wife when she was pregnant, how she was congested for quite some time and always complaining about it. Teresa didn't complain as much, she was also tougher physically than his wife was when it came to pain or discomfort.

"I'm really sore," he understood, once again, his wife felt the same way.

"You leave tomorrow morning, I can't risk you being close to Red John," he paused, "I refuse to let him near you."

He was afraid that was what fueled Red John's motives. He knew Patrick would do anything to protect Teresa and their unborn child. He would not fail his family again. Not again not ever.

If that monster were to come near her and if he were to get his hands on him, he did not know what he would do. He knew nothing would keep him from killing that man.

He pulled her closer to him once again, wrapping his arms protectively around her and resting one hand on her belly. Her head was underneath his chin; she sniffled once more instantly once more missing the days when she _wasn't_ like this. Patrick smiled, sending a prayer for his child and Teresa. He wasn't religious; he did not see how that was possible, but he had to try _everything_ to protect his family.

"Ow," he heard Teresa mutter softly, she had not wanted him to hear it, but he did.

"What?"

"It's nothing," he knew by the sound of her voice that she was indeed blushing.

He paused thinking, and then he realized what it was. A small smile formed across his face, "Sore?" she looked up at him seeing his cheeky grin for the first time that day. Then she hit him.

"Ow."

**Reviews?**


	6. Six

**Thanks for all the great feedback, it really means a lot to us writers =)**

**Nine**

She was leaving.

Before him stood Teresa Lisbon, fingering the bag over her shoulder and changing her stance nervously. She was going home to Chicago, to see her brother for her own safety. 'Her own Safety' really wasn't the right way to word it. Moreover 'their' own safety. It wasn't just her anymore; it was never going to be again.

And Patrick Jane would do anything to protect the things he loved most.

He watched her slip her hand from the strap of her bag and be placed over the swell of her belly. She looked down before looking up and meeting his gaze. If he were to look in a mirror, he'd see despair and great anger. He wanted this all to be over so he could move on.

He wanted Red John dead, and then everything would improve greatly.

He watched her pass through slowly, warily, not knowing to what was going to happen to her next once she got to Chicago. He wanted to go with her, _needed_ to go with her, but that was what Red John wanted. Him going with her would be a sign of not trusting what he thought, prompting Red John to attempt to kill her near him making him feel as if he has no purpose. That was all he wanted.

Patrick stood there for what seemed to be days as each second ticked by, that he was stuck in a slow time as everyone quickly moved around him with their boarding passes in hand. He looked down at his hand, which was fisted. Had been since she'd given him her necklace. Her eyes had been full of hope, that she'd be fine. She gave him a slight nod and squeezed his hand before she placed it over the swell of her belly. He automatically leaned down and pressed a loving kiss just over her belly button, telling their child he loved them. Patrick then stood up straighter and saw something he wouldn't expect from Lisbon. She had a loving look in her eyes with tears around the edge making her eyes glitter under the airport lighting.

She saw the love as well in him.

He unconsciously moved closer, pressing a soft kiss on her cheek, letting it linger, then telling her to be safe. She told him she would, that she would make sure that her brother would keep her safe at all time by never leaving his side. He kept his hand on her belly for a few seconds longer.

When she had walked away, he had looked down at the silver cross that was now lying in his palm. He closed his hand and watched as she moved through the crowds of people, being careful to not run in to anyone.

He did not want to lie to himself, he was not sure if he would see her again, he was now going on a possibly death-promising mission to take down Red John.

He'd do whatever it took.

…

Matthew was there waiting for her at the baggage claim, just as he said he would. He was happy to see his sister, but also shocked about her being pregnant. He had already heard it from Jane, but seeing it still made him a loss for words. He overcame that shock and embraced her tightly.

He had taken her bag off the carousel refusing to let her carry it, just as Jane had done earlier that day, he led her to his vehicle, a blue BMW that sat in the sun, it was obviously new.

The drive was not all that long, but it was silent, except for the occasional questions about each other's lives. They got talking about Jane, she wanted to avoid it, he already had spoken to the man, and she wanted to know why he still wanted to talk about him.

The next thing she knew she was in front of a large house. A beautiful one if anyone would like a better description, "Mary redid the kitchen since the last time you were here," his wife was probably one of the nicest people in the world that she knew. Mary did not curse nor did she say anything or think bad about another person.

Teresa pushed open the door, inhaling the letting it back out through her mouth as her brother took her bag out of the back of his car. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and followed him as he started towards the house.

"How are the kids?" she randomly asks.

He took the keys and unlocked the door before pushing it open, "Maddie's at a friend's birthday party," Maddie was seven, "and Ray's probably with Mary at the grocery store," he paused, "Mary told me she'd be out later," Teresa nodded as she stepped into the house.

Everything else was just as it was before.

…

Patrick lay on his couch in by the window of the CBI's bullpen. He hand both of his hands behind his head, using them as a pillow, looking up at the ceiling. He was watching as the sun went down, how it graced the ceiling as it did.

He took note of the reddish colour that currently flickered over the ceiling, a vibrant red that reminded him of only one thing: blood. The remembrance of that much blood that one night. No one could ever think they would ever see that much blood in one lifetime, sadly he did. The blood of his wife and child. At that time he thought that his future was to be ruined, now he was certain he was not going to let that happen, even if it cost him his life. He was certain that he would be the one to take Red John down and bring closure to many families.

**That's the best I could do at the moment, I hope I can update soon.**

**Reviews are very well appreciated (=**


	7. Seven

**First off I would like to say I'm sorry for my brief lack of updates, everything got so hectic, now I am actually on vacation, well…about to start it. **

**Nine**

Sophie Jane ran towards her father, he knelt down and scooped her up in his arms and twirled her around. She squealed with delight. He pushed his arms up, extending them making her go higher. Once more she let out a high-pitched squeal. Soon he felt someone else enter the room, his beautiful wife, Elizabeth.

She moved towards him, small steps, hands behind her back as she walked gracefully over to him. She put her hand on his shoulder and leaned in, pressing a quick kiss on his cheek.

"How was work?"

He placed Sophie back down on the floor, she ran off towards the staircase, "It was good, another successful job well done," his smile beamed at her, she moved towards him and cupped his face in her hands and leaned in to press a delicate kiss on his lips.

He looked into her brown eyes for what seemed like forever, nothing would take this away.

Patrick heard a door open slightly, Elizabeth did not seem to notice, she pulled away from Patrick before moving back up towards the stairs, fingers gently tracing the wood.

"Beth?" he called after her, she did not reply. That was odd, she always said something back, "Elizabeth?" he called once more.

Before his eyes a dark shadowy figure stepped before him and moved up the stairs. Patrick moved forward and tried to grab him, he couldn't, when he touched the man his hands brushed through his shoulder leaving a cold eerie feeling rise.

Then it clicked.

"Elizabeth! Sophie!" he then heard high-pitched screaming, both from his daughter and his wife. He tried to move, his feet were stuck. He fell on his hands and knees, "Sophie, Elizabeth," it was his long living nightmare.

The scenery changed, he did not know where he was. He couldn't hear, only see. The next thing he knew, blood was everywhere and a scream erupted from behind him. Turning he saw a bloodied petite woman lying on the ground in a fetal position. She turned and looked up at Patrick for a brief second, her green eyes filled with fear and anger.

"Patrick," she paused, "What have you done?" her eyes drifted over to his hand, clutched in it was a bloody kitchen knife.

"I didn't."

"What have you done…" she was fading, getting paler as the seconds ticked by, "This is all your fault, _you_ are _him_. _Your obsession is turning you into him_"

The knife dropped.

"Jane!" Patrick bolted up from his couch, nearly falling off as Grace's voice hit his ears for probably the umpteenth time, "God, you're so hard to wake up," he rubbed his face.

He nodded and sat up, "You must have been having some dream, huh?" he looked up at the rookie and nodded at her once more, his eyes trailed off into the distance.

Was his 'obsession' really deadly?

…

Teresa sat down on her freshly made bed and looked towards the wall. Everything seemed different now. She was currently pregnant and had a serial killer after her, in her opinion, which qualifies as different. She ran a hand through her current unruly dark brown hair and sighed. Currently she was wishing everything was the way it was.

Then the door burst open, her heart skipped a beat. A three-year-old little boy came bounding in towards her, his arms outstretched, "Aunty Tessie!" he clasped his little arms around her legs, "Mommy told me you were…were um, in here!"

Teresa smiled, "She was right buddy," she reached behind his head and ruffled his dark hair, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"I had fruit loops!"

"That's great," she chuckled at her brother's son's eagerness to be around her. She motioned for him to get off her legs before she stood up, momentarily brushing her stomach, "You want to lead me to the kitchen little buddy?" she outstretched her hand, he gladly took it and led her out of her room towards the kitchen.

Ray took her down the stairs, he was sure to be very careful, using both feet to walk down the stairs, "The…the…the…it's in here!" he pointed in the kitchen's direction.

Sure enough, Mary was handing Maddie a bowl of cereal, her daughter said a quick 'thank you' before she sat down at the kitchen table to enjoy her breakfast.

"Mommy!" Ray tried to get his mother's attention, sure enough he did get it, "Aunty Tessie would like, um."

"Some breakfast?" Mary said pulling a bagel out of the pantry, "Teresa would you like it toasted?"

She smiled, "If it isn't too much trouble," Mary nodded and turned towards the toaster oven.

Teresa sat down at the table next to Maddie, who was trying to fit a large spoonful of the fruity cereal into her mouth, only to be soon admonished by her mother. Teresa chuckled slightly at how the children were, she also knew she would be doing the same thing soon, especially if it was Patrick Jane's child.

Ray sat down beside her and started rambling on about his trucks and how the went 'really really fast!' Teresa pretended to be listening, estimating when was the best time to say 'that's great!' earning large smiles from her nephew. Soon Maddie engaged into the conversation, talking about how she and Ray like to take remote controlled trucks and use them along the driveway.

"Here you go," Teresa looked up at her sister in law, who already looked drained from her morning ritual.

"Thank you," Mary smiled at her and walked back over to the kitchen sink, "Where's Matt?"

Mary looked up, "He's working on a case, thought working in the office would be better than here," she stopped talking for a split second, "These two get rowdy sometimes."

"Mommy I'm done!" Maddie sounded.

Not looking up from what she was doing, Mary knew what to say, "Then bring it here, sweetie," Teresa watched the interaction between mom and daughter, placing a hand on her stomach, she remembered Patrick telling her it would be a girl. If he was right, would the do the same things that her sister-in-law and niece did together?

"You okay, Tess?"

She snapped out of her slight trance and looked up at the woman behind the counter, "Yeah, I'm fine," she paused, "I think I'll give Patrick a quick call," she finished her bagel quickly and excused herself from the table moving up towards her room. Ray followed her briefly before being called back into the kitchen by his mother.

Once she made it into the room, she picked up her phone and hit her speed dial, quickly calling Patrick. It rang a few times before he picked up, sounding slightly worried.

"_Teresa_?" she hesitated when he called her by her first name.

"I'm here," she replied, placing a hand on her stomach.

"_Have you eaten yet_?"

"Yes."

She could tell he was most likely nodding his head, grateful that she had something in her stomach, "_Was it healthy_?"

"Yes, Jane, it was health_ier_ than some of the things I have eaten lately for breakfast."

He chuckled on the other line, "_Good, good, how are you feeling_?"

"I feel great, it's good to be home again," she looked out the window and examined the bird land in the tree, "I really missed it."

"_How's the baby_?"

"_He's_ good," she smiled into the phone, knowing he would much rather call their unborn child a 'she'.

"_I'm telling you, it's a girl_."

"Do you have any proof?"

"_I am very good at guessing what's well hidden_," she could tell that he was indeed smirking; it would be so unlike him to not smirk as he was saying such a thing, "_But if you want to call her a boy, that's fine with me_."

"That's fine, listen, I need to go, I promised Mary last night that I would take the kids out today."

"_Have fun, be safe_."

He hung up after that. She pulled the phone away from her ear and smiled. He didn't want to admit it, but he surely did miss her around the CBI building on a daily basis. To him a lot of their little arguments are what he found enjoyable about his job; it made her happier and more enjoyable as well.

Now, to get ready…

**I hope everyone liked this chapter; there might again be a little break between my writing. I just got into my hotel and pulled out my computer to post this before I went to bed. **

**Please Review =) **


	8. Eight

**Sorry for another delay!**

**Nine**

After a long eventful day of watching both Maddie and Ray run around gleefully burning out all the energy their small bodies possessed, Teresa found herself lying down on her bed, hand resting on her belly running small circles with her finger. She leaned her head into the pillow and looked back up at the ceiling. She really had missed being here.

Then there was a knock at the door, slowly she sat up, then it was pushed open and Maddie moved into the room followed by Ray. Both children, who were supposed to be in bed, now stood in the center of her room.

"Aunt Tess," Maddie began, "There's some weird man outside our house," Teresa felt her body go numb, "He just looks into it and stuff," Ray held onto his sister's hand, obviously nervous about this man.

The children most likely came to her room because their parents' room was downstairs; the duo hadn't wanted to leave the second floor thinking that this man could be a criminal. Plus there was also the fact that their aunt was a senior agent for a crime unit.

Teresa leaned in closer, "What does this man look like?"

Maddie looked down at her brother, fear still evident in both of their eyes, "He's wearing a mask."

Teresa froze once more before moving off the bed and grasping Maddie's shoulder, "Listen to me," she paused, "_Both_ of you," Ray looked up at her, "Maddie, I want you to call 9-1-1,"Teresa couldn't hold back the fear in her eyes anymore, she did her best not to show it in front of the children, "After that I want you and Ray to _stay_ underneath my bed and _do not_ move," Maddie nodded pushing Ray quite hard towards the bed.

"Auntie?" Ray asked as soon as she turned to open the top drawer of the dresser, "Wh-what are you doing?"

She ignored him, focusing on the cold metal feel of her gun now encased in her hand. Teresa turned and nodded towards both children before leaving her room, shutting the door behind her. Slowly she made her way down the hallway, cursing when a floorboard creaked. Biting her lip she then found herself slowly making her way down the stairs.

A scream erupted from the master bedroom. Her instincts took over, forgetting what situation she was in, she ran from the bottom of the staircase towards the room. Once she reached the door and wrapped her hand around the handle, she realized it was locked. She tugged on it before moving backwards, about to kick it down. One solid kick wasn't enough. She kept on doing so, but no prevail. When the wood broke, she was able to get through. Standing before her was Red John, he held up a bloodied knife. In front of her laid Matt's lifeless body and Mary. Red John cackled and turned towards Mary, ripping the knife across her neck spilling blood everywhere.

He turned towards Teresa slowly, his smile bringing an extremely worse feeling into the pit of her stomach, "Agent Lisbon, pleasure," she held her gun up towards his chest, "Don't waste your time, it's empty," she looked down at the gun, that's when Red John took this as a chance to take a shot. She wasn't quick enough to react, her shot missed him barely, but when she felt him grab her, she felt her heart beat quicker.

How could she be so stupid?

…

Patrick was once more nodding off on his couch. He tried to think of what life would be like once Lisbon had their daughter…would he still be trying to find Red John? That was something he was sure he couldn't give up. It was his own personal heroin, the very thought of Red John seemed to be the only thing keeping him alive.

But maybe he could move on, with Lisbon. She was his future.

A shrill wringing brought him out of his thoughts. Groaning softly he moved up and reached for his phone. He looked down at the caller I.D.

**Teresa Lisbon**

Why would she call him at midnight? Was something wrong?

He put everything together. What if Red John had found her?

He wasted no time in flipping the phone open and pressing it to his ear, "Lisbon?"

The reply wasn't what he would expect, "_Mr. Patrick!" _it sounded like a little girl, "_There's a stranger in our house!"_ he sat there for a few moments. Lisbon's niece was calling him, asking for his help even, but she didn't know him. Probably got his name after a 'recent calls' list but this was not the time to think about that, "_Aunt Tess went to go get rid of him,"_ he feeling of dread filled him

She was his future.

...

She stared up at the hand wearing a kitchen glove. That hand also carried a knife. Following the hand up the arm of its owner, she found the masked man's piercing eyes staring back at her, an evil glimmer evident. She tried to struggle, but he held her down with his other hand. Pain was felt in her shoulder, where she had been stabbed. He put his hand down on the wound once more causing her to scream as the pain radiated throughout her body.

"Why are you doing this?" was the first thing she could muster, "I want to know why?" she dared him looking at his eyes. Fear suddenly appeared in his before it disappeared again, "Why!" she demanded earning him to actually slap her, hard.

She turned her head away from him, but he quickly grasped her chin and turned her roughly to look at him once more, "Why won't you beg for your life?" he was getting nervous, she wasn't like the others, she was special. She didn't say anything to the serial killer, showing her strength to him, he cackled once more, "You're a special one."

He then took his hand pressing it against her wound once more, her back arched as she screamed again. He brought his knife down, plunging it into her side between her ribs, piercing a lung. She gasped in pain, her eyes wide with shock as the pain filled her once more. Red John withdrew the knife and looked at her in the eyes, almost like a challenge.

Then he took he began to paint her toenails in her own blood…making her watch.

…

Patrick found himself calling the police department, desperately eager for them to give him an exact saying on what they were going to do. He had challenged them, told them that the life of a well-respected family, which was true, was endangered. They had told them that officials were already on there way to the scene.

Frustrated and worried, he threw the phone down and sat back down on the couch, fisting his blonde curls in his hands. How could he had been so stupid and decide not to go with her? He should have gone with her; he would know she would be safe.

It was his fault.


	9. Nine

**Nine**

Everything was in slow motion. Investigators passed him left and right as they ran into the house. Few were shaking their heads as they surveyed the scene before them and wrote down the necessities. The city of Chicago has only heard of Red John, never had a case with him. All they knew was how much the State of California wanted him, how the 'fake psychic medium' Patrick Jane lost everything he ever loved to him. To Patrick, it was all happening again.

He walked up the steps towards the house, to be stopped by a guard. He pulled out his CBI card, eyes searching the man in front of him for admittance. The guard must have seen the guilt in the blonde consultant's eyes, the look that made him known.

"You're Patrick Jane, aren't you?" Patrick looked down at his CBI card. Well of course, it did say his name on it. The man probably just wants to actually go home to some 'fan' of his and brag on how he met the one man who aggravated a serial killer. Just great.

"Yes," it took every fiber of his being to keep him from saying something else, he wanted this monster caught and tortured slowly, to pay for what he did to his family, to Lisbon. That man did not deserve to live.

The man nodded, lifted the tape and allowed access to the fresh crime scene. When he walked into the foyer, he placed his hands in the pockets of his blazer and scanned the room. Very well put together. He then walked towards the scene, stopping himself. Blood pools were every, the crimson colour once more staining his eyes and the haunting red smiley face drawn expertly, delicately, on the wall before him.

There were markers, telling him whose body had been where. He wrinkled his nose in disgust when he saw 'Matthew L.' then 'Mary L.', but when he saw the card that belonged to the Lisbon he knew, his heart stopped, everything in his world did. Outside earlier he had heard that there had been three fatalities. Then another thought appeared in his mind.

The children.

He moved quickly out of the room towards the staircase. He did not waste time climbing to the top; he took a turn to the left, hoping that this was the correct way. Once more his heart thudded in his chest. Lisbon was alive, he knew it. But the children? One of them was gone, possibly the so highly spoken of officers of the law could have easily been so ignorant to not mention another child.

Before him stood a door, open, from where he was standing he could see the blood in the room, on the cream coloured carpet. He wanted to kill this bastard, he killed the children. Patrick just knew it, they were gone and it was his entire fault. It was his fault that they died. More innocent lives lost because of his inability to keep his mouth shut.

But something wasn't right.

When he turned to leave the room he noticed an envelope under the pillow. Slowly he made his way over to it, picking up a tissue in the process, and then opening it delicately. He already knew whom it was from.

_Dear Mister Jane,_

_I almost missed dear Madison; she was as beautiful as her vibrant aunt._

_Good luck to you._

_Sincerely, _

_Red John_

What about Ray?

Folding up the letter into his jacket, he scanned the room once more. Everything seemed too perfect. Did Red John just not remember that Ray existed? Maybe he couldn't find him, which he hoped.

"Ray?" he called out, nothing, "Raymond Lisbon," the child was in this room, scared no doubt, "It's Patrick," he was certain that the boy would know who he was.

Out of the corner of his eye, the suitcase at the foot of the bed moved. Clearly startled, Patrick made his way over to it, unzipping and pulling it open. There lay a little boy, covered in his sister's blood.

"The sa-same M-m-mister Patrick that hurt my sissy?" there was crystal like tears in his eyes, vibrant blue eyes, no doubt from his mother. Of course, Maddie had called him, Red John had heard her, and Ray assumes that he did it.

"No, your Aunt Tessie's friend," the boy wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt and sniffled, "I'm here to help you," he outstretched his hand, the boy shook his head, his shaggy dark brown locks falling into his face.

"Mommy told me to, um, not talk to stra-a," there was a slight pause, Ray was thinking, "Strangeries."

"I'm not a stranger."

Ray shrugged his shoulders, "That is w-what they all say."

…

Patrick walked down the steps carrying the boy; Ray was now clinging onto him, not wanting to go over to the paramedics who were waiting for him. The boy turned and started shouting in fear, hoping that 'Mister Patrick' will never leave him. Patrick found himself making a promise he was not sure he could keep, but he would try, already he knew that Ray would forever be scared, having nightmares that his sister was slaughtered before him by a bad guy who he thinks is another 'Mister Patrick'.

"We'll take care of him."

Patrick spoke up, wanting his voice to be heard, "We'll like to go over to the hospital, that is where his aunt _should_ be," the woman nodded.

"Are you going to ride with the boy?"

He nodded, "Yes."

All together, the ride was not long. With the sirens and lights, they were there in six minutes. Yes, he checked almost every second hoping greatly to see Lisbon alive. He just knew it, a 'Jane hunch' as she and Minelli called them. There was no way she was dead, Red John will be able to taunt him more by injuring her instead of killing her, she would have scars that he would see.

Doctors took Ray into a private room almost immediately, to be checked over once more, after he was given a mild sedative, he needed his rest more than anything right now, to let his tired little body and mind recuperate from the initial shock of what had happened.

Patrick walked over to the front desk, leaning on it slightly and flashing a heart warming smile to the head nurse, "Hi, I'm Patrick," she looked up at him, giving him an annoyed look, "I'm looking for a Teresa Lisbon, she was brought into the ER I believe."

The woman sighed and turned to her computer, her eyes lit up, Lisbon must be fairly famous around here for being the first person to survive Red John, and everyone must know "Room 306, she's strong."

He was walking away when he whispered one thing, "I know," then his pocket suddenly felt a lot heavier. His hand went down into it, clutching her silver cross. She had given it to him before she left to Chicago.

He pushed open the door and moved towards her sleeping form. The swell of her belly was evident, he smiled, the baby was alive, he then looked over and saw the monitor, and their baby's heartbeat was strong. He smiled and placed a hand on her abdomen, right under her belly button and lightly rubbed, like he always did. He heard a beep; Lisbon's heard rate went up.

A smirk was now seen on his face.

**There was another delay, I'm sorry, please review =) **


	10. Ten

**First of all I would like to say how sorry I am for not updating this sooner, I have had writer's block with this story. **

**Second, thank you all for all the wonderful reviews.**

**Nine**

He must have fallen asleep in a very uncomfortable position judging by his now stiff neck. He stirred slightly, raising his head slowly to take in Lisbon's hospital room. Patrick had fallen asleep in a chair with his head down by her arm, hand splayed out on her swollen belly. Pulling back slightly, he stretched his arms out in front of him before reaching back and rubbing the back of his neck, rotating it and groaning slightly.

"You okay?" his attention turned to the bed. He had not realized that she was awake, well, give him some credit, he had been sleeping for the past couple of hours.

He smiled at her softly, "You're awake," he moved closer to her slowly as she nodded, "How are you feeling?" he placed his hand on her forearm; momentarily realizing how soft her skin was to his touch.

"Sore," she tried to shift her current position before she let out a grimace, "Is he okay?"

Patrick nodded, "Yes, _she's_ okay," she smiled and shook her head slightly before looking down at his hand on her forearm. He could easily sense what was most likely coming next; even though she already knew the answer was 'yes'.

"My brother's dead, isn't he," he nodded. She moved her arm away from his touch and brought it up to her mouth, covering her quiver, "The kids," he felt great empathy for her, but he did not know how to tell her of Maddie's fate. Lisbon's current stability was unknown even to the mentalist.

"How are the kids?"

He shook his head solemnly, "_He_ got her," Lisbon's eyes were now wet with fresh tears, she could not hold them back any longer, "Maddie called me, Red John must have heard her," he paused, "or he went upstairs to check to be sure that _he'd gotten everyone_," he almost spat the last part out in disgust.

"Ray…"

Her eyes were now searching his, for a sign of hope. He gave it to her by a simple nod, "Ray's alive," Lisbon ran a hand down the side of her face and gave out a light sigh of relief, Ray was alive, but it still did not make up for the death of his family, "He hid in your suitcase."

The next few moments were silent, Lisbon needed the silence, and Patrick recognized it almost immediately. She did not want to look at him and would constantly turn her head to one side to prevent him from seeing fresh salty tears cascade down her face. Vulnerability was not something Teresa Lisbon worked well with.

Patrick looked at her with such a sincere look in his blue eyes, "I'm going to talk to Ray's doctor," she nodded.

Just as he got up, he saw another figure stepping around a corner and making their way towards Lisbon's hospital room. The one thing that gave him a funny feeling was that this man was not in a decent mood. In other words, Patrick Jane was in danger of getting punched in the nose. At least he was in a hospital.

The man opened the door, the sudden intrusion caused Lisbon to turn and set her gaze upon this man. Her gaze softened after a few short moments, "Peter," she said softly.

"Tess, what happened?" he demanded taking a step closer into the room completely ignoring Patrick, "Matt's dead okay, what the hell happened?" Patrick stepped back closer towards the wall.

"Red John," she said softly.

"Red who?" Peter raised an eyebrow, "Tess, who the hell is Red John?"

Patrick stepped away from the wall and made his way over to this 'Peter guy' and clasped his hands together behind his back, "Red John is a serial killer," Peter turned towards the consultant, "He killed Matt and his family for personal reasons."

Peter glared at him, "Who are you?"

"He's Patrick Jane, my consultant," that's when Lisbon decided to introduce him, "Jane, this is Peter, my brother," that explained everything.

Patrick stepped towards Peter and outstretched his hand as if he were to shake the younger Lisbon's, "Pleasure," his bright smile he attempted to place on his face faded when Peter did not take it, instead her brother turned back towards her, eyeing her belly.

"You're pregnant," it was a statement, not a question, "How could you, Tess?"

She hesitantly placed a hand on her belly, "Peter-."

"Do I know the father?" Patrick then got a sense that if Peter Lisbon knew he was the father to his sister's child, it would definitely warrant for a broken nose, he was not too keen on that. Hesitantly he backed up to be sure not to attract any attention to himself.

"You can say that," she nodded, "He's behind you."

Peter whirled around and eyed Patrick, anger now definitely evident in his eyes, "You son of a," he moved towards Patrick faster than he thought would be possible and found himself being pressed up against the wall, "How dare you touch my sister!"

"Be calm, calm," Patrick did not know how to smooth talk himself out of this, he just hoped that Peter would stop once he realized his sister was telling him to stop, "Calm," he repeated once more.

Suddenly the door opened and a nurse in pink scrubs ran into the room, astounded by the scene in front of her, "What's going on in here?" she turned to Peter, "Sir, I must ask you to leave!" she had seen Patrick around and knew how much he cared for Lisbon, but this other man, she did not recognize.

"Peter! Stop now!" Lisbon yelled one final time before her brother let Patrick go from his clutches. Peter continued to look venomously towards Patrick as the consultant rubbed his hands lightly over his chest, in slight pain. As he was looking down, he then felt a fist connect with his nose; his head went back and hit the wall with a loud smacking sound. He brought his hand up and clutched his nose, now bleeding profusely now. Some was now dripping into his mouth, he squinted his eyes shut as the metallic taste entered his senses.

He opened his eyes to see Peter being taken out of the room by security and the same nurse who was in earlier placing her hand on his shoulder and moving him towards the uncomfortable chair he had woken up in earlier. He sat down still clutching his throbbing nose.

"Mr. Jane, you need to move your hand," the nurse told him, now clutching a generous amount of gauze, "You're bleeding all over the floor."

He looked down, truth to be told, he was, then he looked up at Lisbon, her eyes filled with concern as they looked out of the room as her brother was being led down the hospital corridor willingly. She then turned back to him as the nurse tended to his nose.

"Is it broken?"

The nurse shook her head, "Doubt it, probably just bruised."

Patrick turned to look towards Lisbon, he was now clutching gauze to his own nose as the nurse got up to get more, "Dammit woman, why did you have to tell your brother that now?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "He should know, especially in a situation like this."

"I beg to differ."


	11. Eleven

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter :)**

**R/R please ;)**

**Nine**

He walked next to Lisbon, keeping it slow just for her. That morning she had asked if she could visit Ray, he needed her most at the moment and she wanted to make herself fully available to her young nephew, she could not do that in her hospital bed. She had argued slightly with her nurse, arguing over the fact whether she was well enough to walk around, Patrick had told the nurse he would watch her and make sure she would be fine. It was now clear to him that Teresa Lisbon did not like hospitals, he did not blame her, and he himself could do without doctors.

As they walked through the hospital corridors, both remained silent not quite knowing what to expect when they were to see Ray in his current state. The doctors had said he was healthy, not a scratch on his body. The young boy had severe night terrors, however.

"I'm scared for Ray," she broke the silence first. She was rarely ever scared, if she was, she would never show it, "He lost both parents so early and he saw all the blood," she stopped, not wanting to continue.

Patrick nodded in acknowledgement, "He thinks a Mister Patrick did it," Lisbon turned towards him, "When Maddie called me to tell me that Red John was in that house, he heard her call me 'Mister Patrick' and now he automatically thinks I killed his family."

"You specifically?" she raised an eyebrow hesitantly.

He shook his head, "No," he paused, "Another 'Mister Patrick'," he took in a deep breath, "I would never-," he could tell Lisbon knew what he was thinking of. He was remembering his family once more, torn apart before his eyes, crimson red blood coating the white walls in a sickening smilie face that appeared to be crying. The image alone could turn any sane person into the exact opposite that they were before they encountered Red John.

"Ray knows that," she placed a hand on his shoulder and the other on her swollen belly, "He trusts you," she gave him a soft smile, "I can tell," a small smile crept across his features, he nodded his head and reached his hand to grasp her smaller one in his hand. He ran his thumb over the back of her hand; it felt smooth to his touch, so delicate and yet so easy to be ripped away from this earth.

Her gaze was focused on her hand in his, and then it traveled up towards his. His eyes were full of sorrow and fear…hatred. She took in a deep breath and immediately felt his gaze shift to her face. She felt the blush appear in her features as she felt her pulse quicken. He gently placed his other hand over hers on her belly, taking her hand and entwining it softly. He then smiled at her, giving her a light squeeze. Warmth flooded into his eyes once more as the Patrick Jane she knew to no end returned to her.

"You have no notion to how I would have dealt with this if you had died," she nodded lightly, "I will not leave you again, I need you to know that," once more, she felt herself nod her head slowly, understanding evident in her eyes.

He smiled once more, he was definitely back, "Fantastic," he moved away from her slightly, "Let's go see Ray," he then took the lead towards Ray's room, Lisbon following behind him, mind still working in overdrive in vain attempt to process the moment they had just shared.

…

Ray was improving, a nurse around the pediatrics ward would lead him through the corridors, and eventually the young boy found himself playing with some of the other sicker children. Ray's doctor would nod in approval when he would see the young boy share with the other children; use his manners, and the occasional smile when he interacted with the other young children.

That was where Jane and Lisbon found him, playing with another young boy. The two had been piling up a large block tower, trying to see how large they can construct it without it falling over.

Lisbon was quite shocked by this improvement, not normally did children start up somewhat of their regular routines, but when Ray was alone, that was when he would get upset, cry out as if he was scared to be the last person on earth. His doctor would stay with him for a period of time, before she would be sure he would fall asleep. Immediately everyone was falling in love with the young boy's charms.

"Ray?" Lisbon called out to her nephew. He turned his attention to her, accidently ruining his block tower. He quickly got up and ran to her, arms outstretched.

"Auntie Tessie?" he whispered in her shoulder, "Y-you're n-not um, with the angels?" she looked down at his eyes; they were full of innocence, who could hurt a child?

"No," she cupped the back of his head and he wrapped his arms further around her neck, "I will take care of you."

He pulled back slowly, "P-pwomise?" she smiled at him and ruffled his messy dark hair.

"I promise."

"Does um, the Good Mister Patrick pwomise?"

"Yes," Lisbon turned to see Jane, she did not know he was behind her at that moment, but she appreciated it, that he would help her nephew during this hard time, that he would promise to be there whenever he would need him, "I promise," Ray moved away from her and quickly moved towards Jane, embracing him tightly, "I will never leave you," Jane said into the boy's shoulder before moving away and placing a kiss on his head.

"Good," Ray nodded, "Um, Mister Patrick, Auntie Tessie," he looked around at everyone, "Would you, um, like to pway with me, Sam, and Michael?" he pointed towards where the block towers were being built, only one boy was there, "That's Sam."

"Where's Michael?" Jane chuckled at Lisbon's question.

Ray leaned in closely, he was extremely serious with the way he did so, "Shhh," he brought his fingers to his lips then brought them back down again, "He's really really invisible, b-but he don't know it."

Lisbon looked at Jane; she had not been expecting that. She was pulled out of her thoughts when Ray pulled on her hand, moving her towards Sam, 'Michael', and the blocks. Jane followed both of them, a smile evident on his face once more.

They were safe for now, the only question at the moment was how long.


	12. Twelve

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and put me on alerts…and I am sorry for the long wait once more. Besides the writer's block, work, classes, parenting, computer issues, and much more, I have had almost no time to write, but on the bright side, I am alive.**

**And I remembered that **_**The Mentalist **_**is premiering in almost two weeks, so that has put me in a better mood than I have been in. **

**Nine**

Lisbon smiled as she observed Ray sitting in Jane's lap. The young boy looked slightly happier than he had a few moments ago, but anyone could point out that something was bothering him. Now he was remaining quiet and stacking blocks with his pediatric ward friend and 'Michael'. She shook her head and handed a spare block to Jane who handed it to the young boy.

She watched as Jane placed a hand on top of the boy's head, ruffling the shaggy dark locks before placing a quick kiss into his hair. Jane looked back up towards Lisbon and smiled slightly, "I'll be right back," he shifted Ray out of his lap gently and stood up, brushing his pants off slightly before extending his hand out to Lisbon who gladly took it. He pulled her up carefully so he could be sure he would not do anymore damage to her body.

The two walked slowly away from Ray, casting slightly nervous glances back at the boy, "What do you think?" Lisbon folded her arms over her chest, "Do you think he will ever recover?" it was all different to her. Sure she had seen gory murders where children had witnessed it all. She had lost her mother at a young age, but she was not sure a child as young as Ray would entirely understand what has happened.

Jane sighed and rubbed the back of his neck softly, "Too hard to tell," there was a slight pause, "He might seem healed in time but may bury questions and images deeper into his mind," she nodded slightly. He was right, the little boy they all knew could…and probably live with the fact that his sister was murdered right in front of him while his parents were killed downstairs by one of the most wanted serial killers in U.S. history.

They needed more time.

…

She now lay in her bed, sleep about ready to overtake her. Her mind couldn't help but go back to Ray's smiling face before Red John killed his family. He would run around and be so carefree; to him nothing else had mattered but the present. A crystal-like tear formed in her eye, she blinked and felt it run slowly down her cheek. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, she reached up and wiped the stray tear off her cheek and brought it back down to her belly.

"Lisbon?" she heard his voice beside her, he would not leave her side until he was sure she was safe, "What's wrong," he also knew better than to ask her if something was bothering her.

"When will we go back to Sacramento?" she wanted him to think that was bothering her…he probably knew it wasn't.

There was a slight pause before he finally answered, "In two days, you get released tomorrow," he could see her head nod, "Something is telling me that Ray is coming with us."

"It's what Matt would have wanted, I don't want to see him go into foster care," her hand was moving around her belly, her maternal instinct prohibited her from giving Ray to foster care, she felt she was the only one who could protect him, Peter couldn't give him that. Mary's father died a couple years ago of cancer, her mother was in an assistant living facility, and she couldn't deal with Ray.

"He's going to be okay," she took in a breath, "I know he will be, I need you to know that," she bit her lip and nodded slightly.

There was a slight moment when neither of them dared to speak, the silence was much needed for him to think of what to say next, he was not sure if this would actually make her react. Earlier he had weighed the pros and cons but brushed them off when he was back in Sacramento…when she was too. Now it was especially needed.

"Lisbon?"

"Yes?" her reply sounded groggy, as if she was trying to sleep at that moment…he didn't blame her, Elizabeth was the same way when she was pregnant with Sophie, he should consider himself lucky that Lisbon's hormones haven't gotten too bad.

Back to what he needed to address, "We need to buy a house," she didn't say anything, "Your apartment isn't big enough for Ray and the baby," _and me!_ He wanted to shout.

"We?" she had caught on to that, he had kind of hoped that she wouldn't.

He cleared his throat, "Yes, I'm going to be in my **daughter's** and Ray's life," she turned over in the bed slightly, now folding her hands together and placing her head on top of them. She was now facing him, "And I've been looking for a while…and so has Grace."

She blinked, probably still thinking over his request for her to move in with him…for child caring purposes only, "Lisbon?" she blinked again, "Teresa, hello?"

She blinked once more and raised her head slightly, "Sorry, Jane, it's just that there's so much to process," she cleared the lump that had formed in her throat, "You just asked if I would move in with you?" he nodded, "I'll have to think about it."

"You're going to say 'yes," he smiled at her.

She rolled her eyes and grit her teeth, "Fine."

…

The next morning Jane felt…slightly happier. He now knew he could watch over Lisbon and their daughter until Red John is gone and out of their lives. He would make sure no harm would come to them; he would die before he would let that happen.

He know found himself stirring a hot cup of tea in the hospital's cafeteria, he smiled and waved at a few nurses, causing them to turn their attention back to what they had been doing previously. He simply smiled at himself and took a small sip.

That is, until someone interrupted him.

It was Peter Lisbon.

Peter was now sitting across from him, obviously still on edge around him. In his hand he had his own steaming hot cup of coffee, they were both silent for about two minutes, "Um, hello?" Jane offered him a smile, "What can I do for you?"

Peter looked up at him and set his coffee down on the table, "How do you feel about Tess?"

This threw Jane off, he was not expecting this…not that he was expecting any violence, but some hostility nonetheless, "I care about her," Peter nodded.

"How much do you care about her?" Jane knew Peter would not be satisfied by a simple 'I care about her' answer, he would probably pester him like a mosquito until he got the answer he wanted.

"More than she knows," he took a sip of his tea.

"Would you ever leave her?"

Jane shook his head, "Only if it would save her life," Peter leaned back in his chair, "I sent her here to be safe, she was still attacked by Red John."

"Take care of her."

"I will," Jane nodded.

"I will kill you if you hurt her," both men stared for a couple of seconds, not daring to speak from Peter's last but true statement. To Jane, he did look like the kind of brother that would beat up whoever hurt his sister.

"One more thing Mr. Jane," Peter was now getting up from his seat.

"Fire away," Jane cleared his throat and reached forward for a napkin from the dispenser.

"Do you love her?"

Jane stopped reaching and looked up at Peter, confusion written across his face. He knew that this conversation would come down to this in the end.

He looked down at his ring finger; a slight tan line marked what he used to be. Was he ready to move on all the way? Suddenly his jacket pocket became heavier, her cross, it was in his pocket, had been.

He nodded, "Yes."

"I do love her," he wanted to cry, cry out that he loved Teresa Lisbon.


	13. Thirteen

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and I'm sorry **–again-** for another delay. Mix work, classes, parenting, personal issues I deal with altogether, then it'll all be understood. **

**But I still was able to see the premiere on Wednesday morning :D**

**There is also a slight jump…about two days give or take. **

**Also I do not own Snapple and have not drank one in years, so I cannot remember whether they are sticky or not. **

**Nine**

Jane paced around the airport terminal; he was ever so ready to get on that plane and head back to Sacramento as fast as he could so he would be able to resume watching over Lisbon and Ray. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Lisbon sitting down on one of the uncomfortable airport chairs, one hand rubbing Ray's back as he slept once more that morning, the other on her belly. He smiled; he would support her in any way possible. As he had told Peter earlier, he did in fact love Teresa Lisbon.

And not to mention he had become quite attached to little Raymond Lisbon.

He shook his head and walked off towards the small stand that tea, he knew it was not going to taste as well as it should but a man could only hope. While paying for his tea, his eyes landed on the Snapple juice bottle. He picked that up and a regular water bottle and placed them by the Styrofoam cup.

"That's seven fifty," the woman said with no emotion. Jane nodded and dug through his wallet pulling out a ten and placing it on the counter.

"Keep the change," he smiled at her as he picked everything up, making sure to handle the tea and Snapple with extra care, water bottles could fall on the ground and still be okay.

He made his way carefully back to Lisbon, now standing before her. She wearily looked up at him, "I got you a water," she rubbed her eyes slightly and reached forward.

She uncapped it and took in a few gulps, "Nervous?" he smirked slightly. She paused from drinking and looked up at him, "You're nervous about seeing the team again," he was right, just like he always was.

She sighed softly while recapping the bottle, "Yes, I'm just sort of worried to how all this will turn out," he nodded, not knowing what to say. This whole ordeal could end in any possible way. Red John could be caught or he could continue running around the state of California slaughtering as he pleased. Anyone against that would want to put a stop to it.

"I know," he looked over as Ray suddenly stirred awake, the boy rubbed his eyes and yawned slightly before surveying his surroundings with large interested eyes. His eyes then landed on Jane and he smiled. Jane turned his attention now to the smaller boy and kneeled down before him, "Good morning."

Ray yawned again, "Good morning 'Good' Mister P-Patrick, when do we get on the airplane?"

Jane reached forward and handed him the Snapple before ruffling his hair slightly, "Soon."

Ray attempted but failed miserably to twist the top before handing it over to his aunt, "How soon is-is swoon?" A slight popping noise was heard as Lisbon opened the bottle, causing the young child to look over at her with his big eyes, "T-thank you Auntie Tessie," Jane smiled at Ray's lack of concentration skills.

"About ten minutes," Jane told him, causing Ray to turn back at him with a puzzled look on his face, "Until we get on the airplane," Ray nodded and clutched the bottle close to his chest as he ineptly changed his position, spilling some of the drink on him. He looked down on it and attempted to brush it off and pulled his shirt out a bit to get a better look.

"Auntie Tessie, my uh…uh shirt gots wet," Jane laughed, Ray looked up so innocently at Lisbon. He was practically giving her the look 'I don't know how it got there'.

"That's okay, Ray," he pouted slightly and attempted to brush it off once more.

He eventually lost interest in his wet shirt and turned his full attention back to 'Good Mister Patrick' and continued to talk to him about his imaginary friend. How his imaginary friend moved away.

"_Now boarding flight to Sacramento…"_

They picked up their things and headed towards the airplane, in great hopes of finally returning home.

…

Lisbon sat down on another uncomfortable airport chair. Her hand once more stationed on its regular place, her belly. She leaned back and sighed, it was good to be back in Sacramento. Looking ahead of her she saw Jane and Ray wait eagerly for their baggage to come in. Jane telling Ray a story of how he 'rode on the carrousel and nearly got thrown out of the airport when he was twelve'. This amazed the small boy, must to Lisbon's dismay.

Suddenly someone entered the door, causing Lisbon to turn her head. Not someone, but three people. Her team! Van Pelt came in quickly, desperately searching the crowds for them. Rigsby looked around, quite uneasily. Cho saw Jane with Ray; the man raised his eyebrows as he made his way to the both of them. Rigsby saw this, tapped Van Pelt on the shoulder and motioned her to follow their colleague.

"Jane!" Van Pelt yelled out happily and moved quickly through the crowds. She embraced him as soon as she saw him, her sudden appearance following two men caused Ray to hide behind Jane.

Lisbon got up and started towards the small crowd, smiling slightly, "Ray," the boy turned towards her and ran to her. Everyone followed Ray and their eyes landed on Lisbon who now embraced the boy, "Hi everyone."

"Boss! You're okay," Van Pelt came over to her and hugged her tightly before retreating slightly.

Cho nodded while Rigsby patted her shoulder, "Good to see you, boss."

She nodded in approval before indicating down towards her nephew, "This is Ray, my nephew," Van Pelt looked down sadly at him, losing his family at such a young age was never easy, but it happened still.

Van Pelt kneeled down towards his height and smiled at him affectionately, "Hi there, my name's Grace."

"R-r-aymond," he paused looking up at Cho and Rigsby, waiting for Good Mister Jane to nod so he could talk to the stranger, "Ray."

"Nice to meet you Ray," he smiled and resumed his position behind his aunt, clutching her leg tightly as if it were a lifeline. He had never seen this many people around him, he felt a little overwhelmed.

"Let's go home," Jane said out loud, everyone smiled as they picked up the bags and headed out the doors and into the navy SUVs.

**Again, sorry for the long delay, many people say they won't do it again but I just cannot promise it. **

**-Leigha**


	14. Fourteen

**Personally I think I got this up faster than usual (my timing is still bad and I will always apologise) **

**Thank everyone for all the reviews for this story so far (and for Sting…if you read it)**

**Oh, I have flown pregnant before, it's not comfortable being crammed in a tight space and having a baby pressing onto your bladder for five hours, but I have. I do not recommends it, but it depends on airlines, their restrictions and what your doctor says. **

**Nine**

Jane clutched Ray's limp body as he turned and waved in the direction of the navy SUV's. Lisbon, who was only a few steps behind him, held out the keys and quickly unlocked her apartment door and pushed it open. The door squeaked and Jane flinched as he felt Ray move against his shoulder. The blonde consultant softly rubbed the small child back, making sure he would not awaken.

He stepped inside and walked up the stairs towards Lisbon's bedroom. He was breathing heavily half way up, but when he finally made it to the top, he moved into her room, nudging the door open slightly and walking in. He placed the sleeping boy on her large bed, pulling the blankets over him and being thankful for thinking about removing his shoes when they were in the car…much to Cho's dismay.

He pressed a soft kiss on the boy's forehead and smoothed his dark hair down before leaving the room to retrieve the bags. Once he got back into Lisbon's den, he was surprised to see all bags accounted for by the steps, Lisbon was no where to be found.

"Lisbon?" he called out, he took a few steps, "Lisbon!" more forceful and worried now.

"Yes?" she called coming up behind him, the banana from the plane clutched in her hand.

"I do so hope Rigsby carried these bags up," she took a bite and nodded, "Good, now you need to rest," he could tell she wanted to protest, but she was too tired to put up much of a fight and resigned their almost argument. He held his hand out for the banana peel, she plopped it in his hand before holding her hand up to her mouth, covering it as she finished her last chews of her banana.

"Goodnight, Jane," he smiled at her as she breezed past him and up the stairs. He watched her intently; being sure she would not miss a step or pass out on the way up. He then went on to continue his search for her trash bin.

He eventually found it underneath the sink.

Smiling to himself about the small accomplishment, he turned and walked up the steps, hand sliding on the carpeted railing, fingers running deftly over the material. He walked into her room; she was asleep next to Ray, her hand on her stomach and the other around Ray, pulling him closely to her. He smiled; he had not seen anything like this in years.

Sighing to himself, he pulled off his shoes and socks, slipped out of his jacket and vest and climbed in beside her. He lie on his back for quite some time, watching the patterns on the walls, seeing different pictures in his mind. He then eventually drifted off into a deep sleep. The combined breathing of both Lisbon and Ray serving its purpose as his own personal lullaby, putting him in a wonderful dreamless sleep.

…

Lisbon stirred awake as she felt something behind her shift slightly. She lifted her head off the pillow and turned to see Jane, his head buried into the crook of her neck, his soft breath tickling her shoulder. His left hand was placed on her belly, the other entwined with hers. She sighed and grasped his hand covering her belly, she looked over at him one more time and smiled, this was…nice. When they had slept together last time, he had left in the middle of the night.

She sighed and moved more into his warm embrace, she could stay like this forever if she could, and it was so relaxing.

That is, until she heard a toilet flush and the sink run, then a small boy walked out of the bathroom, rubbing his eyes with his small hands. Lisbon wasn't sure if she should be happy that Ray just ruined the moment.

Ray climbed onto the bed, sat on his knees, and stared down at her and Jane, "Ummm Auntie Tessie…what's, uh, for beckfest?" he yawned and stretched, shooting his little fists up in the air.

Lisbon smiled and not-so-gently moved her elbow back into Jane's side, making a slight sound escape his lips, leaving more of his breath on her slender neck. She closed her eyes and fought back the sudden urge that was telling her to tell Ray to go downstairs and watch TV and 'have her way with Mister Patrick'.

"Mornin'," Jane mumbled as he stretched his legs out slightly and re-nuzzled his face into her neck.

"What's Mister Patrick doin?" Ray giggled as he flopped down on his bottom.

Lisbon closed her eyes and counted from one to five before she broke away from Jane, who after that looked up at her as if she had just pushed his couch out of the bullpen. She motioned her head towards a smiling Ray before she got up slowly, hand on her stomach, and moved out of the room.

Ray followed her.

…

Jane eventually made his way downstairs, disheveled slightly, but untidy nonetheless. The smell of fresh pancakes moved through the room, his stomach growled slightly at the wonderful smell. He turned into the kitchen and saw Ray lying on the floor, playing with two toy cars that he must have gotten from his duffle bag.

Lisbon held her hand to her belly, rubbing it slightly as she flipped over a pancake to the other side. Suddenly her hand stopped and she dropped the spatula. She gasped and brought her other hand to her belly. Jane thought something must have been wrong and quickly moved over to her, he splayed one hand across her swollen belly and looked down at her, "Are you all right?"

She nodded, "It moved."

"Yes, _she_ did," Lisbon looked up at him and picked up the spatula and swatted at him playfully before returning her attention to her belly, pregnancy was a beautiful thing.

Jane never thought he would ever experience seeing a woman go through it again, he was wrong…

…but he was kind of curious to how it felt like…

**Slightly more light-hearted :)**

**Reviews are extremely welcomed with wide arms**

**Oh, and I get to spend the whole day tomorrow cooking and praying that the kitchen does not catch fire. I also get most of my relatives that live close by around as well as it is snowing right now. Oh joy. **


	15. Fifteen

**Thanks for everyone who reviewed or added an alert ;)**

**I am working on another project, second part to "Sting" (I had to REALLY think hard about doing this one, it should be up later this week, no promises!)**

**Oh and on the side note, I did not burn my house down this year, but I cannot say it did not almost catch fire…**

**Nine**

Thirty weeks. She's been pregnant for thirty weeks and she already looks as if she is going to explode.

Jane found himself sipping his morning tea and observing her sit on her sofa watching the latest episode of _Spongebob_. Ray was enthusiastically pointing out who was who, stuttering and saying 'um' of course. His eyes then jerked back to her abdomen, when she quickly clutched it tightly. She had jumped slightly, also.

He looked over by his hand when out of the corner of his eye; he spotted his mobile phone light up, vibrating across the table teetering towards the edge. He set the cup down and quickly picked it up, flipped it open and pressed it to his ear.

He already knew it was Grace calling saying she and _now_ _Rigsby_ had found a perfect house for them. He smiled and thanked them for their efforts. Smiling even brighter, he set his phone down and looked up to see Lisbon staring right at him. She raised her eyebrow, expecting him to say something about his phone call. She was about to open her mouth and say something when Ray tugged on her arm, exclaiming that she must not miss the part when Squidward once again played his God-awful clarinet. Jane shook his head and smiled at the young boy.

He got up and stretched slightly, rotated his shoulders and grasped his jacket, "Where are you going?" he turned his attention back to the pregnant woman on the sofa.

"To talk to Grace," she leaned down and whispered something in Ray's ear. He solemnly nodded before turning his attention back to his show as she got up, hand placed strategically on her belly as it always was.

Once she got to stand before him, she crossed her arms over her chest, "Don't lie to me, Jane," now Jane knew that tone…he was treading on water.

He shrugged his shoulders, "We're going to go look at houses…Grace found this really nice one…"

"Jane, we're fine," she held her hand out to silence him, "I don't need a new house, this apartment is _fine_.

He shook his head, "No, not with two kids! This may be a considerably large apartment, but it is still one bedroom!" he was trying his best to reason with the woman, but she was just so damn stubborn.

"Jane…" she _whined?_

He nodded, "I'll be back before dinner," she looked down then up as he was leaving the room, "I'll make chicken!" he hoped it would lift her spirits, she loved his chicken.

"Bring ice cream!"

He smiled as she quickly recovered.

…

He arrived at the address that Grace had told him, he shut the engine down and climbed out, holding the door as he surveyed the house. It looked fairly old…but beautiful nonetheless. But his main concern was the condition of the house, if it were as old as he thought it was, it could have major problems.

He heard a car door shut, he turned hastily to see Grace coming towards him with a couple of freshly printed documents regarding to the house. She had a big bright smile on her face as she handed over the papers; he skimmed over it…just as he expected it…old. But it was recently refurbished…

"Rigsby found it actually," Jane nodded, "It was more of an accident," she paused and bit her lip, "he spilled the sugar powder from his doughnut all over his pants and knocked over his coffee and he accidentally hit the scroll down button on his computer," Jane actually remembered that. It was one of the few days he had been at work and he woke to the sound of cursing…and Rigsby nearly falling out of his chair.

Ever stoic Cho scoffed at him.

"Would you like to see inside?" she looked hopeful, over the past few weeks he had turned down countless homes. Either it was because of a bad roof to a bad foundation that no one seemed to notice but him. He accidentally embarrassed the inspector.

He nodded and smiled, "Sure," he then followed her up the concrete steps and into the beautiful vista. He could already imagine himself living here…with Lisbon, Ray, and their unborn daughter... he was still attempting to convince Lisbon that it was in fact a girl, but the woman was just stubborn. He hoped that their daughter would not inherit the trait.

…

When Jane walked back into Lisbon's apartment, it was almost five in the afternoon. He and Grace had looked around Sacramento at numerous houses plus one condo. All in Jane's minds in terrible quality, except the first one they visited. Now he would have to convince Lisbon to leave her semi-small apartment soon. Everything was already crammed enough.

He set the bag and pulled the vanilla ice cream on the table. He pulled the delectable treat and set it in the freezer. He turned to see her lying on the couch, asleep. Jane smiled and made his way towards her, crouching down he brushed her hair from her face and bent down, placing a soft kiss to her forehead. She mumbled slightly in her sleep, Jane wanted to move away in fear of her hurting him for showing a sign of intimate affection.

One of her eyes cracked open, she moaned and stretched out, curling her toes slightly. She yawned and rubbed one of her eyes, "Patrick?" he was surprised at the sound of his first name, "What time is it?" she attempted sitting up, brushing stray pieces of her hair behind her ear this time.

"Almost five," she nodded and sat up, taking a few seconds before moving once more, "What would you like for dinner?" she shrugged her shoulders, "Chicken?" she wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

"I kinda feel like," there was a slight pause, "pancakes…" she felt like a little girl again, having breakfast for dinner with her mom was always a favourite past time of hers, and she missed it terribly.

He smiled brightly and nodded, "All right, I can do that."

Then he remembered…Sohpie…

"_Daddy, wake up!" Patrick awakened to the sound of his daughter's voice. Opening one eye, he smiled at her, she had asked him before she had gone to bed if they could make her mother breakfast in bed, "Time to make pancakes!" she tugged on his arm._

_He pushed the covers off him carefully, not wanting to awaken his beautiful Elizabeth. Sophie, his daughter, quickly grabbed his hand and led him out of the room and down the stairs. Her soft blond curls bounced as she made her way into the kitchen. He smiled to himself, life couldn't get any better._

"_C'mon daddy!" he smiled once more entering the kitchen, "Mommy will be awake soon!"_

He knew he had been still for quite some time; the slight hesitance in Lisbon's voice was evident when her hand touched his, "Jane?" he looked down at her and blinked for a few moments, tears were threatening to run down his cheeks. He **refused** to cry at this very moment. He refused to show her how damaged and how much pain and hurt he was really feeling. After all, it was what got them into this…

"I'll be fine," he brought his hand up to his mouth rubbed below his mouth, on his chin, "I'm fine," he said it more to himself, he was not convinced.

She was now standing up, closer towards him, "Patrick," she was searching for words, "Please don't shut me out, not now."

Her eyes moved back and forth, searching his face for any signs for him to be okay. At this very moment, she was still not convinced. Her hand found his forearm, just below the elbow. Her eyes now pleading with him to tell her the truth.

"I'm not, don't worry," he tried to back away from her, but she held onto him, he shut his eyes, he couldn't look at her. He felt as if he was failing his family, Ray and Lisbon. By not finding Red John, he felt that the sadistic man would continue to try to hurt them.

"Patrick…"

"I'm fine."

**Yes, I will bring Red John back sometime, because I am just that evil. The part about the pancakes and his daughter is from the first in this series, **_**Acceptance.**_


	16. Sixteen

**I would like to thank everyone for all the great reviews I have received :)**

**Nine**

"_Patrick…"_

"_I'm fine."_

Her green eyes studied his. Searching for answers pertaining to his mood. She wanted to beg and plead that he would open up and talk to her.

"It was something I said, wasn't it?"

He shook his head, "No, no, it has nothing to do with you," he waved his hand, lightly telling her not to let it bother her. She crossed her arms over her chest, eyes narrowing.

"But it has to do with _something_," he sighed, he wanted to tell her the truth, he really did. Something as usual was holding him back from doing so, "Tell me," she asked.

"Please," she said once more softly.

He shook his head, "It's nothing."

That did it.

She flared up, anger erupting in her eyes. She moved closer to him, this was the time she really wanted to kill him, "Damnit Patrick! Don't you see people actually care about you, who _need _you. I want to be able to tell my daughter that her father was a good man!"

That did it for him.

"She is just as much as my daughter as she is yours!"

"You're not carrying her for nine months!"

He looked over his shoulder then back at her, "Would you for once in your life just listen to me woman! This is nothing!" he yelled at her. She refused to back down. She did not feel intimidated by Jane's sudden outburst.

"Get out!" he blinked.

"Get the hell out of my apartment!" she pointed towards the door, "NOW," her voice was dangerously low, not caring if she were to hurt his feelings.

"No," he said simply.

"**Jane**!" she yelled moving herself away from him as if he were some unwanted, vile object, "Just get out!"

"I can't…"

She crossed her arms over her chest once more and cocked her head to the side, "Why not?"

He moved closer to her, now only inches away from her face, "Because I promised Peter that I would not let anything happen to you," a lump formed in her throat as a result of his harsh tone, "And there is so much more to it," he looked more closely at her. Crystal like tears formed in her eyes, she quickly brushed them away and straightened her appearance.

"Like what?" she challenged, her voice wavering a bit.

He held her gaze, contemplating his options. He could achieve many things from this moment; this could also set them apart for the rest of their lives. She shifted her footing and placed her hands over her swollen belly. He placed on hand over hers, entwining his with hers and resting it on the swell. He leaned down closer towards her. He felt her quiver a slight bit, tensing with anticipation. Her heartbeat sped up and her lip trembled.

"I love you…" he told her.

Her eyes enlarged, she gasped and moved away from him. Pulling herself out of his grasp. His eyes were on her the entire time. She ran her hand through her hair and kept the other on her belly. She breathed deeply before turning back to her.

"Jane I-."

He refused to give her a chance to finish. He made his way closer to her, placed his hand behind her head delicately and grasping her hand in his other as he placed his lips softly onto hers. She froze, unmoving. She squeezed his hand and brought her current hand entwined with his and brought it to her belly as she took her other hand and placed it behind his head. He placed his free hand on her waist, keeping her as close as possible.

The kiss was sweet and long. Passion and undying love flowed between them. Both their heart rates sped up as he tugged on her bottom lip. She opened her mouth and he ran his tongue along hers. She moaned and massaged his scalp. The hand entwined with hers moved around in a soothing motion, the baby was calm, almost as if it were content.

They broke apart slowly, both had hazy vision, half-opened eyes. He leaned forward pressing a soft kiss on her lips and leaning his forehead against hers.

"I love you too," she breathed against him, leaning as much as she could into him and she kissed him again.

He breathed in, cinnamon, one of the many things he loved about her.

"Ummm, M-mister P-p-pat-r-cik," the two moved slightly apart at the sound of a small boy, "W-what's for, um, dinner?" Jane looked down at Lisbon and smiled before turning back to the small boy.

"Ray, how would you like pancakes for dinner?"

"B-but Mister P-patrick….that's…um break-kfast!" Ray scratched the side of his head curiously and shook his head in disbelief.

"That's all right," and with new confidence, Jane picked up Ray, swinging the boy around. Ray laughed happily. A true, content laugh. Full of glee. Lisbon's heart melted at the very sight as she watched the two men in her life enjoy…life.

She placed her hands on her belly, "We're the only girls in the house now," she felt a small kick and she smiled.

God she hoped Jane was right about the baby being a girl. She had not yet tested to make sure his 'theory' was correct. A small part of her was telling her so. She smiled and made her way into her kitchen, muttering a quick 'careful' as the boys moved around the fairly large apartment.

Jane set Ray down on the ground as the two went around to gather the pancake batter. Lisbon leaned against the icebox, watching the delightful scene in front of her. Jane turned back at her and winked.

Maybe life was getting better. Maybe he shouldn't live the life full of the desire to kill Red John. Ray, Lisbon, and their unborn daughter changed his outlook….so did Peter when he threatened to do physical harm to Jane if he were to hurt his sister…

But nevertheless, things were shaping up.


	17. Seventeen

**I would like to thank everyone for all the reviews :)**

**Oh! And thank my cousin (MOSI3) for getting this up, she threatened (well actually did) hold my laptop hostage so I could not get any work done. **

**Nine**

Five weeks ago she would never have imagined her life like this. Five weeks ago she was…well…obviously _slightly_ smaller than she was at present. But all that time ago she never would have pictured _this to happen:_

She weaved her way through some unknown area, Jane's hands clasped over her eyes and a small hand tugging her in the direction of what she thought of some kind of surprise. She had one of her hands resting on top of her belly, a position that has become quite common over these past few months as her baby grew.

"Just a few more feet, Teresa," she felt Jane's breath tickle the back of her neck, sending shivers down her spine and leaving gooseflesh in the aftermath. She knew he was smiling; he always had this affect on her, much to her dismay. It usually left her blushing.

"Patrick, just tell me what you're doing," his thumb brushed across her brow as she heard him chuckle, "Patrick…"

"C'mon Auntie Tessie! B'fore um…Mr. Wayne steals all the…uh food!" this time she did stop in her tracks. Raymond continued to pull on her hand as she turned her head, towards Jane. She reached up with her free hand and pulled his hands away from her eyes.

Once she finally made eye contact, she raised an eyebrow, "A baby shower?" her voice became more high-pitched as gratitude filled her eyes.

Jane tilted his head to the side, smiled and looked down at Raymond. He winked at the small boy, "Ray, why don't you go stop Mr. Wayne from stealing all the food?" it was more of a suggestion, one that made the boy beam up at them both and run through the French doors of…a new…large house?

"Where are we?"

Jane smiled softly, "Home," his voice was quiet, Lisbon continued to look around at her surroundings. Beautiful hard wood floors, stairs leading up endlessly, a beautiful light fixture hung from the ceiling…this was out of her budget.

Once Jane felt that she had drank in enough of her surroundings, he cupped her chin and tilted her head towards him. Tears pricked her eyes as a sudden sense of fear bubbled up inside her. Owning a house together…with Jane showed signs of intimacy and a future. Yes, she had wanted a decent life with him, Ray, and their currently unborn child, but a house like this? Yes, he was right, her apartment was way too small to raise two children and house two adults, but maybe another larger apartment? Or a smaller…cheaper home?

But this also showed her that _he_ was ready to move on. The pain of losing his wife and child was still there, it always will be, but he felt lighter…the ability to move on. Sure, the hunt for Red John was still on for him, but he wanted to focus on the _now_, that was with her. With her he acquired Ray and their baby.

"Home?" she echoed softly, eyes searching his as he brought his lips down carefully down on hers. It was quick, nothing dramatic or inappropriate in case someone was watching. Preferably no one, but one could never be too sure, "Why?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Your apartment was too small."

"B-but Jane, this place is," she took in a deep breath and looked out the French doors to the spacious yard out back, "Huge," he gave her his traditional one hundred watt grin, as expected.

He nodded and patted the side of her arm before moving it down and placing it over her hand currently residing on her belly. His thumb moved over her knuckles as he leaned in closer to her ear, "In case of more," with that he stepped away from her and moved towards the French doors. She stood dazed.

She opened her mouth, about ready to say something. She looked down at her belly, from this perspective it took up most of her vision. She then looked back up, only to see Raymond darting into the room, all jumpy from a probably sugar rush.

"Mr. Patrick! Don't…uh worry!" Jane raised an eyebrow and looked out the doors once more, "Mr. Wayne didn't eat everything!" he then ran out the door. Lisbon waddled towards Jane. Once she came up to him, she rested her head on his shoulder and leaned into him.

"Apparently Ray's gonna eat everything," she chuckled loudly and he looked down at her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and pressed a kiss to her forehead, "And the team with think that this is an ordinary outing," he released her and moved out the door. He reached back in and grasped her smaller hand in his and tugged her out the door and carefully down the steps.

Jane cleared his throat, alerting everyone in the yard to turn and look at them both. Lisbon tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled softly as Minelli pulled Ray in his lap, the small boy laughing as he clutched a can of root beer.

Lisbon furrowed her brow, moved away from Jane and moved towards her boss, "Virgil? What the hell are you thinking?" Minelli looked surprised that his _pregnant_ agent came at him with such a ferocity, "You _don't_ give a child something with caffeine!" he looked down at what Ray currently held in hand before he raised his hand up to silence her.

"Relax Teresa…"

Her hands turned into fists as she pulled the root beer away from the boy, making him frown and get extremely upset. Tears welded up in his eyes, "What are you thinking?"

She felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned to see Jane smiling, "What?" she asked harshly. He reached forward and plucked the can from her grasp. He turned it around to her field of vision.

"Caffeine free."

She crossed her arms over her chest, looking over at the now sniffling Ray and stunned Minelli, "Well, it still has a lot of sugar."

He nodded, "Yeah, but its only his baby teeth," she hit the side of his arm before she grabbed the can away from him and turned to pick up a plastic cup that sat on top of the table and poured about fifty percent of the can into it. She handed it to Ray and knelet down towards his level.

"Drink only this much," the boy nodded, his mop of dark hair bouncing up and down as he reached for it, she pulled it out of his grasp quickly, "If you _promise _to brush tonight," he nodded and reached for it again, she handed it to him.

"Thank you," he said politely.

Lisbon placed her hand on her lower back as she stood up slowly. She scrunched her eyes and took a deep breath. Jane put an arm on her shoulder and smiled at her, "Lower back pains?"

"Yeah," she said and hobbled over towards Grace who was itching to hand her a bag with tasteful patterns expertly printed on it.

As she was making her way towards her rookie, she heard a "now hold that with both…" followed by a yelp and a "Sorry Mister Minelli!"

Lisbon chuckled as she sat by Grace, who handed her the gift. She glanced over her shoulder at a now laughing Ray and a slightly…irritated Minelli. Cho peaked over his book once before glancing back towards his favourite novel.

Jane walked over to Cho and pulled the book down, "C'mon Cho, let's watch Lisbon open her gifts!" Cho nodded and plopped his paperback down on the table and inched slightly closer to his boss and colleague. Rigsby joined them, cupcake in hand. Minelli picked up Ray under the arms and carried him over, placing him on the grass before he sat down on a bench.

Lisbon plucked the paper out of the bag and pulled a delicately wrapped frame out. Grace smiled, "I got that for you to place the first family picture in," Lisbon smiled and fingered the beautiful wood before she looked up at Grace and smiled actually at the rookie.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Her gaze was soon averted to a present messily wrapped in blue paper with purple polka dots. There was a red bow on top, not really matching well. She picked it up and shook it playfully.

"That's from me," Rigsby said, mouth full of cupcake. Grace tossed a look over to him, making him swallow the treat, "Sorry."

Lisbon took the bow off first, sticking it on the table before Jane swooped down, picking it up, and placing it on top of Ray's head. The small boy laughed and reached up and took it off to turn around and place it on Minelli.

Once the present was opened, she was glancing at a pack of bodysuits, coming in three different colours for a newborn. She smiled at looked up at Rigsby, "Thank you," he smiled back at her before sitting next to Grace and finishing the rest of his cupcake in one bite, causing Grace to roll her eyes.

Lisbon reached over and picked up a present wrapped in the same colours as the last, the only different was the size and the neatness of the wrapping, "Cho?" the Asian nodded.

"I thought this would come in handy…to keep everything organized once the baby got older…Grace suggested it."

She ripped open the paper to be greeted with something you put bath toys in. She smiled in gratitude at Cho, then at Grace, telling them both a quick thank you. Grace smiled.

"He didn't know what to get for you, so I suggested it when I went to buy the frame."

"It's a great idea, thank you both!" she placed it to the side before she reached over to pick up another; it was bagged like Grace's. Unlike Grace's it was without any tissue paper.

She pulled out a couple bottles of baby shampoo and bath towels for the baby. Soft plush-like washcloths with a large duck printed on the fabric. She smiled and looked over to Minelli and thanked him.

There was a final present, apparently not from Jane. She reached over and picked up the nicely wrapped present. It was apparently shipped from the store without a return address…that she knew of. Jane came towards her and reached to take it out of her grasp.

Everyone leaned forward as he ripped it open and pulled out a plush lamb stuffed animal. It looked innocent and harmless. Jane narrowed his eyes and picked up a note that came with it.

_To the Jane Family:_

_Enjoy your new gift; a baby girl is always a treasure._

_Red John._

Jane crumpled the note, a scowl forming over his face as he left the yard. Lisbon reached down and picked it up and read it over quickly before she got up hastily in search of Jane.

This was not good.

….

Later that night Jane found himself in his old house, fireplace lit. He read over the letter, and left just like that. He told Lisbon he needed some time to think, she looked hurt but listened.

He sat down before the fireplace, poked at it once more and clutched the lamb, looking over at it before he tossed it into the fire, watching it burn. The flames licked over the lamb as the white plush toy ignited before it was never to be seen again. The flames reflected on Jane's angry green eyes as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, stepped away and shrugged his vest off and balling it up.

He then reached down and picked up a bucket and tossed the water onto the flames, killing them instantly. He turned and left the house, locking it on the way as he moved down the walkway towards his Citroën.

He drove back to Sacramento silently; the only sound was the rumbling of the car. Once he pulled up to the familiar apartment, he stepped out and climbed the stairs. He opened the door with his personal key and stepped in. He saw Lisbon, sleeping on the chair with her head back and curled into it. A blanket was covering her body as she continued to sleep. He walked over to her and brushed his hand across her cheek.

Her eyes snapped open, "Patrick?" she moved, stretching slightly before standing up and falling into him, "Sorry, my foot fell asleep," she yawned and sleepily looked up at him, "You okay?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I think I will be," he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth, "Let's go to bed."

They walked up the stairs, hand in hand.

**I hope it was not a let down, I have been busy and completely lost a lot of things I use for writing (partial reason for my absence) also there's life (its sadly not like the game)**

**Reviews are very much appreciated :)**


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